How to Lighten Up in 10 Steps and Motivate Yourself in 8

What Have You Got To Lose By Reading One More Self Improvement Article?

I am 27 years old, but have been told and expect that once I get to the 40-year point in life, all of the sudden a lot of things become apparent. Apparently you beget to ask yourself questions.

How will it be once I get to the end of my lifespan? How do I feel about the life I lived? And needless to say, some of us begin to ask such questions earlier. What am I doing with my life? Where am I heading?

And then somebody gives you a few self improvement books whilst telling you that it's not yet too late and that you can change and do whatever you want to do. Does this sound familiar?

The experience of anxiety that occurs next is simply natural. You feel baffled because life had felt so good. You are in a wonderful relationship, completed school and university to a good standard and are relatively ok, but something keeps bugging you.

Or, you lived happily, had a prosperous marriage, two fantastic children, and an occupation you fairly enjoyed. You feel you have not done enough, seen enough, met enough people. You wonder: “What is my problem? “

It is no doubt your over analytical brain, forever searching for the next big hit. It is the “hardheaded” and fear-based side of your mind that manages to convince you that your passion and aspirations have perished. This leaves you feeling stuck.

First, here are top 10 shifts in position that can assist you in motivating your life to the next level. This self-reformation article will help you in breaking through your personal glass ceiling to acquire the life you genuinely want. Lighten Up!

Help!

1. Grant Yourself Permission To Ambition.

In all likelihood you had no trouble dreaming as a child. What happened to your
ability to envisage and aspire to what you want and who you want to be? When
was the last time you saw yourself daydreaming and appreciated it?

2. Stop Searching Outside Yourself For Happiness.

Look deep down and step-up your
self-awareness. Become inquisitive about who you are at the core. Cultivate and
nourish a relationship with yourself.

Find Your Centre

3. Cover the Basics.

Take the time to address your own needs. How can you focus on expanding
your life if you are in survival mode fretting and waiting? Set up that meeting
with a financial advisor, write that poem, paint that painting, ask that sexy
guy/girl out; get your space organised and tidy up the details that are
consuming your energy.

4. Embrace Your Past And Advance.

Shift your attention from “why it happened” to what I want
to do about it now. Asking “how come” is not a very empowering question. Asking
what or how I would like to go forward can be a good deal more powerful and
bring about advancing movement.

5. Recall That You're Not Alone.

It is easy to feel swamped with life. Seek support. If you
need inspiration read more self improvement articles or talk to someone you
admire. Weather you agree with their suggestions or not, they may help you
figure out your own thoughts about the matters that are baffling you.

6. Remember Gratitude.

Count your blessings. What is working right in you life?
Make a list. Set aside a minute of time day-to-day to recognise what or who
you're thankful for. The further you practice gratitude, the more you will attract
things into your life to be thankful for.

7. Court Your Passion.

You still have your passion although it may have been a
long time since you felt it flow. When are you the most active and happy in
your life? Who do you most look up to and what do they inspire in you?

8. Take Action and Accept Risk.

All the inspiration in existence is not enough to make you
move your life to the next level. It takes inspired action to do that and
nothing is ever guaranteed, so take a risk and live.

9. Take a Breath.

You probably forget to take deep full breaths. We have all been conditioned to constrict our breathing in response to stress. According to a lot of selfimprovement articles, we not only need oxygen to stay alive, we need oxygen to feed us energy and keep us healthy. Instantly take 5 deep, full breaths. Don’t forget to breathe.

10. Have Fun and Play.

Call a friend, take a bubble bath, go to an art museum or
plan an entire day out in nature. Put on some good music and dance till you
drop in front of the mirror. Enjoy being in your body.

Love Life

I Am Practising the 10 Steps, Now What?

Having taken these steps life should
feel lighter and breathing easier. Enjoying what you have and having
constructive tools to get what you want go hand in hand. If you lighten up, the
likelihood of feeling motivated grows. If you swap feeling stuck with
progressive thoughts and action, you are always closer to the goal.

Of course at some point on your path
to whatever you have decided to do, disheartenment and lack of motivation may
try to stop you from accomplishing our objective. Once again you wonder: “What
is my problem?” And it is up to you, and you entirely to invent techniques that
will help you keep that driving force within on fire.

Here are 8 handy techniques to keep you motivated.

1. Visual Goals.

Whatever you are working towards,
make it visual. Perhaps it is something material such as a car, or a holiday
you've been looking forward to for the longest time. Take or cut out an image
of it and put it up at a prominent place at work or at home where you are able
to see it frequently. So that when you feel discouraged, this will remind you
of your goal and will assist you to keep your spotlight.

2. Making a Contract With Oneself.

According to motivational
researches, people who write down to-do-lists are far more triumphant in
accomplishing their intended goals than those people who only keep mental lists
instead. Putting something in writing for some reason makes it more effective
psychologically speaking

3. Positive Rewards.

In the contract, you may also include a positive reward that
you will give yourself when you have completed the task. After all, everyone
likes to be rewarded for completing a good job. Even a simple pat on the back,
“good job”, or “thank you” might do the trick to give the person another push
to carry on. Considering that recognition and reward are crucial in keeping
oneself driven, you must learn to find a way to get that encouragement on your
own through fulfilling yourself.

4. Positive People.

Some people may lower your self-regard and bring you down. They may hinder you with negative comments or their negative mind-set. Spend more
time with positive people. Copy their example. Smile fully and think joyful
thoughts.

5. Reading Inspirational Books and Literature.

This will help you better your attitude and heal your
mind. A book of success accounts can also be encouraging. You will not only
learn from others' experiences and gain self-confidence boosting insights from
them, but the account will be helpful in motivating you to go for your goal and
act forward on your plans.

6. Knowing the Steps to the Goal.

Often,
not knowing how or where to start is frustrating. Knowledge is power. Having a
clear understanding of how and where to begin is empowering and it will offer
the extra drive required to hit the mark you're aspiring to and follow it
through. Think what steps need to be taken, whether a course or joining the
gym, decide what needs to be done.

7. Divide and Conquer Is the Key.

Break down the apparently
unachievable activity to little accomplishable steps. Not only does it become
less overwhelming, but seeing the "in the meantime" results will
boost your self-confidence that it can indeed be done.

8. Just Do It!

Whatever it is that you've been intending to do, or wanting to accomplish, JUST
DO IT! Inertia idles the brain and stagnates your potential to achieve your goals. In reality getting your hands dirty best resolves the trouble of
motivation. By “forcing” yourself to just do it, your impulse will pick up bit
by bit as you continue and before you know it you've completed the task or have
ultimately achieved your goal.

Doing this will feed you a clearer
mind-set and allow you to see a more crystal picture of what you actually
desire. Your mind will acknowledge what steps to take to get there. Instead of waiting
for matters to materialise, be proactive and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

Comments

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Author

iva dragostinova 5 years agofrom Brighton, UK

Epi-man, thank you so much :) I'm planning on having a good old rummage through your hubs soon. I'm touched that you find my writing inspiring. And I look forward to sharing writing together. oooh, snow! no snow here as of yet. Sweet dreams!

epigramman 5 years ago

...an epic hub and presented here with such keen intuition, perception and foresight - I must bookmark this most enlightening experience as words to live by and promptly post another great work by you to my Facebook page with a direct link back here and just to say that the epi-man is very inspired by your writing

lake erie time ontario canada 7:48 am and something has just become very apparent to me - there is snow everything here where I live and I went to bed around 1:30am and it was dry and clear - somewhere during the night it must have snowed like crazy - lol - that's it I'm going back to bed - lol - and sleep it off.

adam 7 years ago

hi there,

thanks for the great article. i found it very useful and well written.

i hope you write more in the future.

adam

scotty 8 years ago

well. ive read this article and think that it is a very good read. i think a lot of it makes sence although some of it could potentially be hard to do....but that's the whole point, you have to make your own life work for yorself.....i think that being positive and having a smile on your face makes a difference...i sometimes even say to myself when i wake up, that im going to have a good day today and be a happy person and nice to everyone and say hello to shopkeepers or the bus driver or whoever, but i know that when i smile rather than when im down, it affects me better after if i smile cause the other person has seen your smile and connected with it. xscott

Russ Baleson 8 years agofrom Sandhurst, United Kingdom

What a great hub! I thought I had read all there is to read on self-improvement, inspiration, etc., but I love your approach. There is a good balance of inspiration, practical actionable tips, responsibility, realism, etc. Hope to read more from you.

James A Watkins 8 years agofrom Chicago

Welcome to Hub Pages. You are off to a fine start. Good advice here. I especially like the idea of rewarding oneself for goals reached. This works.